Shoemaking



Oct. 27, 1936. E. A. GRAY 2,058,975

SHOEMAKING Filed' July l. 193e Patented Oct. 27, 1936 snoEMAKnsG Ernest A. Gray, Brockton, Application July 1, 1936, Serial No. 88,374

5Claims.

This invention relates to shoes, and consists more particularly in a novel prepared innersole for cushion soled shoes and in a new and imlproved cushion sole shoe embodying such inner- 5 sole. The invention includes within its scope the novel. process of making prepared innersolesl of the character herein described. l

In Patent No. 1,754,225, granted on an application of C. C. Eaton, is disclosed a lweltedshoe embodying a illler of sheet sponge rubber adapted to give elasticity and resiliency to the sole of the shoe, the iiller occupying a pocket in the innersole and being held therein by the outersole whichl is attached to the usual welt. The primary obl5v ject of my invention is to provide a prepared innersole of novel and economical construction having as its base a thin iiexible insole blank of a type which may be purchased at low cost in the `open market and which is then stiflened, reinforced and built up so that it may be utilized in shoes made by the McKay or Littleway Process or by any stuck-on process such as the 'Compo and will present a pocket or recess of sufilcient depth to receive a cushion of sponge rubber or the like.

In one aspect the invention consists in a novel innersole having the peripheral"y portion of its4 forepart built up by a thin iiat strip of welting or the like to provide a cushion or Eller-receiving recess within the borders of the innersole, a marginal edge of sufficient thickness and `bulk to ai'- ford secure attachment for the lasted margin -of the upper and a flat face of substantial area to receive the lastingmargin thereupon in direct face to face contact. The raised marginal portion of theforepart may be provided by' attaching a ribbon-like strip or welt of the desired thickness directly to thev innersole,y the combined .thickness of the welt and upper being substany40 tially equal to the thickness of the cushion ller to be placed within the cavity. Preferably and as herein shown the shank landfrear portionv of the .innersole are stiffened and reinforced by such materialas nbre board 1 which may be shaped to make a juncture with the welt strip rearwardly of the ball line. The resulting insole thus presents a still.' yshankwhich rmay be molded and a heel seat which affords flrm anchorage for even a highheel, while the forepart remains very flex- I ibletotransverse bending.

'A shoe embodying the insole of my invention may befconstructed very economically, the upper being held,'bystitching, staplng, adhesives or in any suitable manner, securely between the two soles and the cushion nller supported evenly therebetween in a manner provi-ding` a uniform andresilient cushion for the forepart of the foot,

upon which the weight of the wearer is pitched. Y

In lasting the upper .to theinnersole the toe portion is necessarily somewhat gathered and -5 bunched and unless the upper is carefully trimmed this bunching may cause the toe end of the outersole to be deected out of line to an objectionabe degree. A further feature of the invention resides in so forming my novel innersole that a space 10 is provided at the toe end thereof for receiving a bunched portion of the upper, thereby permitting the outer sole to be brought into normal contact with the toe end of the shoe. I preferably proceed by rst applying the said ribbon-like strip to l5 ythe innersole and thereafter cutting away, in Whole or in part, an intermediate portion thereof at the toe it Vbeing understood, however, that the same result may be accomplished by applying two independent strips to the opposite margins of P20 the innersole so spaced apart at the toe end ofthe sole as to provide the desired space.

The present application is a continuation in partof my copending application Serial No.

,67.250, sied March 5, 1936, which in turn was a 25' continuation of my application Serial No. 8,672.

filed February 28, 1935.

The features above enumerated and others incident to the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description oi v30 a preferred embodiment thereof, selected forpurposes of illustration and shown in the accompany-- ing drawing, in which.

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an innersole embodying my invention,

Fig.2 is a fragmentary perspective view of .the innersole having the toe portion of the welt strip removed.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a last with thc innersole placed thereon preparatory to lasting. 40

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of 'a cushion nller to be applied to the shoe of my invention. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the l last and innersole with a shoe upper lasted thereon. Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line 6--6- of Fig. 5 but on a larger scale.

Fig. 7 is a view like Fig. 6 but showing the outer sole attached.

Fig. 8 is a view like Fig:` 5 but showing the use 50 of staples for fastening the upper to the innersole blank. y Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken longitudinally through the toe end of the shoe.

The foundation and essential feature of my im- .5.5

proved innersole is a thin, light weight, exible blank, a blank split from the hide and procurable at a fraction of the cost of a` grain inner sole. This blank without reinforcing and building up treatment is not suitable for use in any but the cheapest shoes, yet, when treated as herein disclosed, its employment in womens cushion sole shoes of all grades is not only possible, but highly advantageous.

Such an innersole blank IIl is represented in Fig. 1 as having been rounded to correspond with the contour of the last bottom in connection with which it is to be used. It has a uniform thickness of perhaps four irons and is homogeneous in texture, without grain and inherently extremely flexible.

The rst step in the preparation of the innersole consists in attaching to the marginal face of the forepart of the blank I0 a thin flat strip I2. This may be also of split leather or it may be a welt strip having a grain surface, 2 or 3 irons in thickness and perhaps, of an inch in width. It may be secured to the blank I0 in direct face to face contact by cement I4 as indicated in Fig. 1 or by fasteners such as staples with its outer edge flush with the edge of the insole blank. The result is that the marginal edge of the innersole is built up to a thickness of 6 or 7 irons so that it affords suilcient substance to supply an adequate anchorage for the margin of the upper overwiped in the lasting operation, a wide flat face for attachment thereto, and a. margin stiiened suiliciently to obviate distortion in the shoemaking process. Also and most importantly, the strip I2 defines and partly'forms a recess for a cushion filler, As shown in Fig'. 1 the strip I2 may be pinked at I8 to facilitate conforming to the sharp curvature of the toe.

It will be understood that in preparing an innersole for use with womens shoes having high heels it is important to provide suilicient rigidity in the heel seat to afford secure anchorage for the wood heel. It is also important to provide a shank of material which may be molded and which when molded will be sufficiently stiff to retain the lines of the shoe. Accordingly I propose to reinforce the rear part of the blank IIl by a sheet of bre board or similar material, cemented in direct face to face contact with the surface of the blank and making a juncture rearwardly of the ball line with the ends of the strip I2. The shank piece I6 shown in Fig. 1 is o f this character. It is shown as being notched in its forward edge to t the end of a metallic' shank piece, but the end of the shank piece may be of any desired shape and may be fitted to the rear ends of the strip I2 in any desired form of juncture, although it is important to locate this line somewhat to the rear of the ball line of the shoe ,in order tov as it stands, but if desired may be modified to provide a free space at the toe end to allow clearance for the bunch formed in the upper by gathportion of the strip or to form the desired space by using two separate strips spaced from each other at the toe end of the blank.

A cushion illler pad 20 such as I contemplate using as a part or in connection with the insole by my invention, is shown in Fig. 4. Preferably the pad 2|) is formed of sponge rubber cut out in such shape as to correspond in outline with the contour of the recess formed by the strip I2 and beveled on its rear edge. This ller may be cemented in place within the recess of the insole and the insole distributed as a unit in this condition, or the cushion pad may be inserted if desired at a later step in the shoemaking process after the insole has been secured to the last bottom.

In Fig. 3 the innersole, as illustrated is applied to the bottom of the last 22 and is temporarily held in position thereon by tacks 24. The upper 28 of the shoe is then assembled upon the last and in the lastingposition'the overwiped margin is drawn over the face of the welt strip I2 and secured in lasted condition temporarily by lasting tacks or permanently by an adhesive. In this operation the gathered and bunched pleats of the upper at the toe are received in the space provided for that purpose in the marginal strip .I2 of the innersole. The upper and lining material of the overlastedmargin build up thickness ofthe welt strip I2 increasing the depth of the recess formed thereby in the shoe bottom. If the cushion ller 20 has not already been incorporated in the innersole, itis now placed in its receptacle completely filling the same and projecting slightly therefrom as best shown in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 7 the outer sole 26 is shown in its position in the completed shoe, being secured in place on the sh bottom by suitable adhesive in direct face to face engagement with the overwiped margin of the upper material and of the cushion filler. In the completed shoe the cushion filler 20 is closely and securely confined in the shoe bottom between the innersole I 0 and the outersole 2G. The filler is meanwhile confined within marginal walls formed by the strip I2 and the overwipped margin of the upper. It is thus prevented from shifting in Wear and its inherentl texture precludes bunching or other deteriorations which would tend to disturb or destroy the uniformity of the ller or its uniform resilient action beneath the wearers foot. In Fig. 8 the upper 28 is suggested as being staple-lasted to the built up margin of the innersole I0 and secured to the surface of the strip I2, instead of being cemented in place as suggested in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 9 the toe portion of the shoe is shown in longitudinal section and it will be noted that the gathered upper fills the space made available by cutting out the strip I2 at the toe. As illustrated the forward part of the cushion pad 20 is shown as broken away to disclose the position of the strip I2 and the marginal material of the upper behind it.

While the features of the invention have been shown and described in their preferred embodiment, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as shown in the drawing and described in the specification and yet be within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a cushion-soled shoe, an innersole having elongated ribbon-like strip material secured to the peripheral portion of the bottom face of in the borders of said peripheral portion, the strip material having end portions disconnected from each other back of said ball line and the exposed bottom face of the peripheral portion of the innersole and strip material having an -open space therein at the toe end thereof due to an absence of said strip material thereat, a shoe upper hav; ing the lasting margin thereof in face-to-face contact with the exposed face of the strip material and extending into said space, a resilient `filler within said recess, an outersole covering the ller and having its edge portions in face-to-face contact with the overlasted margin of the upper, and means securing the outersole, the upper and said strip material together.

. 2. An innersole adapted to formthe foundation of a cushion-soled shoe, comprising a relatively thin and flexible innersole blank having an elongated ribbon-like strip secured to the peripheral portion of the bottom face of its f orepart in fixed lface-to-face contact substantially over the area of the contacting faces and extending from a point back of.the ball line to the toe on one side and from a. point back of the ball line to the toe on the other side to provide an open recess adapted to receive a resilient ller Within the borders of said peripheral portion, the strip having end portions disconnected from each other back of said ball line and the exposed face of the strip being flat and ofsubstantial area and adapted to receive the lasting margin of the shoe upper thereupon and in face-to-face contact therewith, and the strip being cut away at the toe of thesole to provide. an open space for the purpose described.

3. An innersole adapted to formthe founder-- Y the two strips being located respectivelyv at opposite sides of the center line of the sole and each extending from a point back of the ball line to the toe portion but short of the toe point on either side to provide an open space therebetween at the toe and an `open cushion-receiving recess within the borders of said peripheral portion, the strips having end portions disconnected from each other back of saidball line.

` 4. A prepared innersole having a thin and flexible leather blank as a base, thin, fiat and ribbon-like fibrous weit strip material' cemented directly in face toface and unitary contact to the blank about the margin of its forepart, thereby building up and reinforcing the sole edge for attachment tothe lasted margin of an upper and providing a recess adapted to receive a cushla prepared innersole having a thin and exible leather blank as a base and thin, fiat and ribbon'- like fibrous welt strip material cemented directly in face lto face and unitary contact to the blank about the margin of its forepart, thereby building up and reinforcing the sole edge for attachment to the lasted margin of an upper and providing a recess adapted to receive a cushion ller of a corresponding shape, a fibre shank piece secured in face to face contact with and stiffening the blank rearwardly of the welt strip, a cushion filler disposed in said recess, the entire inner face of the welt strip being in contact with the blank and the inner edge thereof providing an abrupt shoulder contacting in abut` ting relation with the edge of the filler and 'holding the ller against shifting movement within the recess, an Iupper having its lasted margin secured to the margin of the innersole which is built up by said welt strip, and an outersole overlapping the lasted margin of the upper and enclosing the filler in its recess.

Y i ERNEST A. GRAY. 

